There is a FF in my ER that has "cyclical vomiting" in his chart who is also, conveniently, addicted to narcotics. It seems whenever he's out of narcs that he has an "attack" of "cyclic vomiting". Very melodramatic floor-throwing personality too.

My 8 year old son has cyclical vomiting syndrome. He has never been to the ER for it, but I'm hoping if he did someone would take him seriously. It is a horrible thing to watch when he is vomiting so violently. Not something I would ever wish on anyone. I'm not saying people don't abuse the diagnosis to get "good drugs", but it is a real thing for my son.

The entry in wikipedia was interesting. What they describe there sounds a hell of a lot more like what I had when I was pregnant than the normal descriptors of "morning sickness." It was a truly miserable time. I lost about fifty pounds in five months, because almost everything I ate came back up about ten minutes later. Sometimes very cold water taken first would let me eat a little and hold it down.

Apparently my body decided about six months in that it wanted to switch to migraines. So then I had frequent migraines the rest of that pregnancy.

It's little things like this that made me get a tubal ligation (grin).

some of you movin' meat bloggers should be ashamed of yourself. and you say you are supposed to be in the medical profession. cyclic vominitg sydrome is REAL. Do your homework. Yes, sufferers are medically treated with dilaudid and they appear drug seeking in the ER. Well they are-the every 20minutes of retching bile they have gone through wehn they get to your ER is a 20 on a 1-10 pain scale and they want their pain medication. I know I've watched my adult daughter go throuth this for 8 years. The next time you want o joke about the CVS patient who needs dilaudid think twice before you spew.

Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome is a very real and debilitating disease that not only affects the patient but the caregiver as well!!! My husband has found one thing that stops it in it's tracks and puts him to sleep! Stadol nose spray.

My husband was released from the ED 2wks ago with a diagnosis of narcotic with drawl. I immediately began searching the internet yet again for the cause of this hellish nightmare my husband has suffered through for many years.I enlisted the help of a mutual friend I was so desperate. I found CVS and it matched his symptoms to a T. His symptoms start in the AM and his body temp drops while he begins to sweat profusely and becomes mentally altered from pain all the while crying.

He had a full RX of painkillers that he takes only when the pain of two back surgeries is bad. He's had the vomiting/pain issues even before the back problems. This is the only ED he's been to in 13 years. They have all of his records. They treated him like dirt. No one helped.

I think we have an answer now and we'll investigate further, but because of this last Ed visit I'll be all over anyone's ass the next time my husband's pain isn't taken seriously. The ED staff just created a monster. So if you see a 6'5" long haired Irish boy stumble into your Ed with tears streaming down his face and doubled over in pain and shaking so violently he falls and has to drag himself around we would appreciate it a great deal if you could hit him with some pain meds and an IV bag. But not promethazine because after the last three visits he's ended up with big ulcers on his penis which we found out was a fixed drug reaction. Woulda been nice if the doctors had of been able to figure that one out too instead of me having to google that one as well.

Shadowfax

About me: I am an ER physician and administrator living in the Pacific Northwest. I live with my wife and four kids. Various other interests include Shorin-ryu karate, general aviation, Irish music, Apple computers, and progressive politics. My kids do their best to ensure that I have little time to pursue these hobbies.

Disclaimer

This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.

All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.